Hamas stated it had actually lost contact with an Israeli-American captive in Gaza following an Israeli rocket strike on the Palestinian area.
Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli soldier from New Jersey, United States, was caught throughout the October 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel. He appeared in a video launched by the militant group over the weekend.
Abu Ubaida, representative for Hamas’s armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades, stated they lost contact with the fighters holding Mr Alexander after Israeli forces performed a “direct strike” on the location where he was being held.
The representative did not expose the place.
“It appears that the profession army is intentionally attempting to eliminate him and, for this reason, alleviate themselves from the pressure brought on by the dual-citizen detainees in order to continue its genocide versus our individuals,” he stated.
Hamas later on released a video caution loved ones of the Israeli captives their kids would “return in black caskets with their bodies torn apart from shrapnel from your army”.
The Palestinian group blamed Israel for the deaths of captives in Gaza, consisting of as a direct outcome of military operations.
It acknowledged, nevertheless, that a minimum of one captive was eliminated by a guard acting versus directions.
Israel has formerly stated it does not target locations where it thinks captives are being held. It stated its forces would continue their operations in Gaza till the staying 59 captives– of the 251 caught throughout the 2023 attack– were released.
United States president Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, informed press reporters last month that protecting the release of Mr Alexander, thought to be the last enduring Israeli-American kept in Gaza, was a “leading concern for us”.
The Tikva Online forum, a group representing households of a few of the hostages, stated on Tuesday that Mr Alexander was among 10 captives who might be launched by Hamas if a brand-new ceasefire was reached, mentioning a discussion a day previously in between prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the mom of another captive.
Mr Alexander’s release was apparently at the centre of talks that United States captive mediator Adam Boehler accepted Hamas last month.
Hamas launched 38 hostages throughout a ceasefire that entered into impact on 19 January.
Israel resumed its military operations in March after the very first stage of the ceasefire ended, and Hamas decreased its proposition to extend the truce without ending the war.
Today, Hamas apparently declined a brand-new Israeli proposition for a six-week truce. A Palestinian authorities informed the BBC that the proposition did not discuss ending the war nor Israeli soldiers leaving the area.